Former Moroccan PM Calls for Party Leader’s Resignation After Election Defeat

9 September 2021 – byGinette · 1 min read

Former Secretary General of the PJD, AbdeliIlah Benkirane, has called on the head of government to resign after the crushing defeat suffered by their party on Wednesday in the legislative elections. The Party of Justice and Development went from 125 seats in the outgoing Assembly to 12 seats.

The PJD performed poorly on Wednesday, finishing far behind its main opponents. The party led by El Othmani suffered an electoral rout that no one had imagined.

"As a member of the PJD national council and former secretary general of the party, and after the heavy defeat suffered in the regional elections, I find it more than necessary in this painful circumstance that the current head of the party take responsibility and resign. Pending the holding of the national congress as soon as possible, the vice-president [of the PJD] will take over," announces the former head of government in a handwritten letter posted on his Facebook page.

The PJD suffered a crushing defeat and finished far behind the Rassemblement national des indépendants (RNI), the Parti Authenticité et Modernité (PAM), and the Parti de l’Istiqlal, with 97, 82 and 78 seats respectively (out of 395 deputies).

Category: Morocco

Keywords:

Elections Justice and Development Party Abdelilah Benkirane Saadeddine El Othmani Moroccan Parliament